Switch-operating mechanism.



PATENTED OCT. 18, 1904.

S. KENNEDY. SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM.

' AIYPLIOATION FILED AUG. 21. 1903. mmzwnn SEPT. 16. 190-1.

N0 MODEL.

2 9 2 EE H I 0 UNITED STATES Patented October 18, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

SWITCH-OPERATINGMECHANISM;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,715, dated October 18, 1904.

i Application filed August 21, 1908. Renewed-September 16,1904. Serial No. 224,656. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SHESHBAZZAR IiENNEDY,

a citizen of the United States of America, residingat Riverview, in the'county of Washingtonand State of Pennsylvania, have invent-" ed certain new and useful Improvements in Switch-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in switch operating mechanism; and the primary object of the in-' vention is to provide novel and effective means which will permit of the operation of the switch by the motorman on the car without necessitating the stopping of said car and-th rowing the switch, I

As is well known, in street-railways where the car is to be switched from the main track to the side line it is customary that. the car be stopped just before it reaches the switch and the motorman or conductor dismounts to throw the'switch by means of a rod or other instrument. This is oftentimes very unsatisfactory,

as it involves not only an unnecessary amount of labor, but also entails delays in running the car, and sometimes it happens that the car passes beyond the switch-rails, rendering it necessary to back the same before the switchrails can be operated.

It is the object of my invention to construct a device whereby these objections in the present method may be overcome, and in describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and wherein like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a track, showing a switch connected tothe operating-rod. Fig. 2 is a detached detail perspective viewof a part of the switch-tongue and the operating-rod. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the operating device and a partof the car-platform. Fig. t is a diagrammatic'top plan view of the same.

To put my invention into practice I connect a throwing-rod to the switch-tongue, and this throwing-rod is so mounted as to be engaged by the shoe carried by the car, whereby to move the rod in a manner to actuate the switchtongue to place the latter in-the desired positongue 1 a substantially L-shaped throwingrod 2, the shorter arm of which is connected to the switch-tongue, a convenient method be-- ing to thread" the shank on the end of said shorter arm, extending this shank through the switch-tongue, and secure the same by the points, and in practice this casing may be provided with asuitable cover, whereby to protect the throwing-rod 2. At its outer or free end the throwing-rod carries a post 6, on which is mounted a substantially diamond-shaped shoe 7, which will lie above the cover-plate ofthe casing 5. To engage thisshoe 7 and actuate the switch-point 1 through the medium of the rod 2, I provide mechanism on the car consistingof a plunger-rod 8,carrying a shoe 9 at its lower end,said shoe being of a substantially diamondshaped form; This plunger-rod is springpressed to normally hold the same in the elevated position and is provided on its upper end with a head 10 and near the upper end with a collar 11. The portion 1 2 of said rod between the head or button 10 and collar 11 is made ofa greater diameter than the lower portion of the rod and works freely in the platform 14. The rod extends through the casing 15, attached to the underneath side of the car-platform, and through the tube 16, carried by the lower end of said casing, thistube extending through the hanger-plate 17, to which is connected hanger-rods 18, attached at their up per ends to the underneath side of the carplatform. A spring 19' is'arranged on the plunger-rod 8 between collar 11 andthe lower end of the casing 15. The portion 12 of the ,tion. To this end I connect to the switch;

plunger-rod carries between the button or head 10 and the platform 14 the transverse pin 20, and arranged on the upper face of the car-platform adjacent to the plunger-rod is a holding means for assisting in the retention of the shoe in the desired position while without departing from the general spirit of the same is under tension. This consists of a lug 21, having the inclined face, and a pin 22, situated adjacent to said lug, also a similar lug 23 and a pin 24: situated adjacent thereto. When one of the pins is engaged between lug 21 and pin 22 and the plunger held down under pressure, it will be prevented from rotating, and thus the shoe will be held in the desired position to properly engage shoe 7, and likewise when the opposite pin 20 is engaged between lug 23 and pin 2 the shoe 9 will be held in the proper position to engage shoe 7 in the desired manner.

The lugs 21 23 are inclined on their outer face, whereby when the plunger is rotated while under pressure of the foot pins 20 will be carried up over lugs 21 23 in order to allow the said pins to engage between said lugs and pins 22 24, respectively. On approaching the switch the motorman depresses plungerrod 8, turning the same while under pressure of the foot so as to properly position shoe 9 to engage shoe 7 in order to move the switchtongue in the desired position.

It will of course be evident that the location of the switch may require alteration in the location of the throwing-lever and that this lever may be made shorter or longer, according to existing conditions, and that such changes as these and others may be made my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with the pivoted switchtongue, the L-shaped throwing-rod connected thereto and pivotallyseeured in the road-bed, the post carried by the outer end of said rod, and the shoe on the upper end of said post, of a spring-pressed plunger-rod mounted in the car-platform, a casing through which said rod extends and within which the spring is arranged for holding the rod normally elevated, a tube connected to the casing and through which the rod extends, a shoe on the lower end of said rod, a hanger-plate connected to the tube, hanger-rods connected to said plate and the car-platform, a head on the upper end of said rod, transversely-extending pins at opposite sides of the rod below said head, and means on the car-platform to be en gaged by said pins for holding the plungerrod in the desired position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

SHESHBAZZAR KENNEDY. Witnesses:

H. G. Evnn'r, E. E. POTTER. 

